The typical hard disk drive includes a head disk assembly (HDA) and a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) attached to a disk drive base of the HDA. The HDA includes at least one disk, a spindle motor for rotating the disk, and a head stack assembly (HSA). The PCBA includes a disk controller for generating servo control signals. The HSA includes a head for reading and writing data from and to the disk. The HSA is controllably positioned in response to the generated servo control signals from the disk controller to move the head relative to tracks of the disk.
The HSA includes an actuator assembly, at least one head gimbal assembly (HGA), and a flex cable assembly. The actuator assembly typically includes an actuator having an actuator body with one or more actuator arms extending from the actuator body. Each actuator arm supports the HGA that includes a head. An actuator coil is supported by the actuator body. The actuator coil interacts with a magnet to form a voice coil motor. The PCBA controls current passing through the actuator coil that results in a torque being applied to the actuator. The HSA further includes the flex cable assembly in electrical communication with the PCBA. The flex cable assembly supplies current to the coil and carries signals between the head and the PCBA.
A flexure extends along the load beam and is considered a sub-component of the HGA. The head is attached to and electrically connected to the flexure. The flexure includes a flexure tail that extends away from the head. The flexure tail is disposed adjacent the actuator body and attaches with the flex cable assembly. The flexure includes traces that extend from adjacent the head and terminate at electrical connection points at the flexure tail. The flex cable assembly includes a flex cable with electrical conduits that correspond to the electrical connection points of the flexure.
A topic of concern is that the flexure tail must be precisely aligned with and positioned on or adjacent the flex cable to allow for the electrical connection and secure attachment between the two components. In some cases, the flexure tail and the flex cable are manually held in place during the electrical connection process. This may be the case such as where ultrasonic tab bonding is used in the electrical connection process. Specialized tooling may be required to align and hold the flexure tail and the flex cable during the electrical connection process. This may be the case such as where soldering techniques are used in the electrical connection process. It is contemplated that there is need in the art for an improved flex cable assembly and flexure configuration to facilitate an ease of alignment and attachment of the flex cable assembly and the flexure.